154 



AN OCTOBER ABROAD. 



of that famous courtesan have the most fickle and de- 

 structive climate to contend with. 



English women all have good-sized feet, and Eng- 

 lishmen, too, and wear large, comfortable shoes. This 

 was a noticeable feature at once ; coarse, loose-fitting 

 clothes of both sexes, and large boots and shoes 

 with low heels. They evidently knew the use of their 

 feet, and had none of the French, or American, or 

 Chinese fastidiousness about this part of their anat- 

 omy. I notice that when a family begins to run out, 

 it turns out its toes, drops off at the heel, shortens its 

 jaw, and dotes on small feet and hands. 



Another promoter of health in England is woolen 

 clothes, which are worn the year round, the summer 

 driving people into no such extremities as here. And 

 the good, honest woolen stuffs of one kind and an- 

 other that fill the shops, attest the need and the taste 

 that prevails. They had a garment when I was in 

 London called the Ulster overcoat — a coarse, shaggy, 

 bungling coat, with a skirt nearly reaching to the feet, 

 very ugly, tried by the fashion plates, but very com- 

 fortable, and quite the fashion. This very sensible 

 garment has since become well known in America. 



The Americans in London were put out with the 

 tailors, and could rarely get suited, on account of the 

 loose cutting and the want of " style." But " style " is 

 the hiatus that threatens to swallow us all one of these 

 days. About the only monstrosity I saw in the British 

 man's dress was the stove-pipe hat, which everybody 



